Bryce McGowens's Legacy

[Dead Dog Alley]

12 hours ago, Handy Johnson said:

Bryce sure would look good in Gold paired up with LeBron & AD…

 

My better half's son got to tag along for a few drinks with LeBron & AD, among others, after a Laker game a month ago.  Don't ask me how...

[MitchMcGaryMunchies]

3 hours ago, basketballjones said:

Thank you for that info man, I appreciate it. 

 

No problem, the NBA CBA is pretty freaking confusing.  Probably by design, plenty of job security for sports agents and NBA front office staff that way.

 

I do like a lot of the changes...helps protect teams a bit from investing too much into a draft bust.  And the two way contract allows smart teams to test the waters and sort of stash a player to see how they develop in their system.  I believe players on two way deals can play in 50 NBA games now.  It used to be 45 days with the team and that included practice and travel days which obviously limited their usage significantly.

 

Nuggets and Thunder are two teams that come to mind that have used this technique pretty successfully.  Duncan Robinson, Monte Morris, Alex Caruso, and Lu Dort are some of the success stories that come to mind.

[49r]

Not a surprise really, but Bryce has been invited to the NBA combine

 

 

[Red Don]

 

 

[Handy Johnson]

We had one the very BEST (Top 5) Freshman in program history & accomplished absolutely nothing. It’s hard to square the circle…Would I do it again? Sure I suppose, he was fun to watch play, but the WHOLE thing just leaves me feeling hollowed out. 

[basketballjones]

22 hours ago, Dead Dog Alley said:

 

My better half's son got to tag along for a few drinks with LeBron & AD, among others, after a Laker game a month ago.  Don't ask me how...

You're just going to stop there... and that's it? C'mon man you don't just stop with that story. 

[Dead Dog Alley]

13 minutes ago, basketballjones said:

You're just going to stop there... and that's it? C'mon man you don't just stop with that story. 

 

It involves a friend of his (who works as a model and only dates professional athletes), who took him along for several games, in the section where the special friends but not wives sit.

[cornfed24-7]

30 minutes ago, Dead Dog Alley said:

 

It involves a friend of his (who works as a model and only dates professional athletes), who took him along for several games, in the section where the special friends but not wives sit.

Ooh I got I one too! My wifes cousin called in her chips to get super bowl tickets this year for her and her son. Was in one of the boxes with a bunch of famous people. One was Steph Curry. Which she photo bombed . Made it on to Stephs IG account. The FB is hers

Edited May 6, 2022 by cornfed24-7

[basketballjones]

1 hour ago, Dead Dog Alley said:

 

\who works as a model and only dates professional athletes

Same

[Huskerpapa]

When I read this short review, I feel even worse about last years team and effort.  See if you agree.

 

https://www.si.com/nba/thunder/draft-coverage/bryce-mcgowens-potential-outweighs-his-inefficiencies

[cornfed24-7]

1 hour ago, Huskerpapa said:

When I read this short review, I feel even worse about last years team and effort.  See if you agree.

 

https://www.si.com/nba/thunder/draft-coverage/bryce-mcgowens-potential-outweighs-his-inefficiencies

"He wasn’t able to showcase his passing ability much either, averaging just 1.4 assists compared to 2.1 turnovers."

 

[AuroranHusker]

How'd the combine go for young Bryce?

 

 

[Huskerpapa]

1 hour ago, AuroranHusker said:

How'd the combine go for young Bryce?

 

 

Welp...I'm not a scout nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but it appears that his experience appears underwhelming.   No appearance in any of the scrimmages and he doesn't appear in the top 5 of any of the tests.  Then again maybe I missed his name or do not know how to correctly extrapolate information...

https://www.nba.com/game/erm-vs-cur-0922200004/box-score

[MitchMcGaryMunchies]

On 5/28/2022 at 9:14 PM, Huskerpapa said:

Welp...I'm not a scout nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but it appears that his experience appears underwhelming.   No appearance in any of the scrimmages and he doesn't appear in the top 5 of any of the tests.  Then again maybe I missed his name or do not know how to correctly extrapolate information...

https://www.nba.com/game/erm-vs-cur-0922200004/box-score

 

From what I've read and the mock drafts I've seen post-combine, it looks like he's solidified himself as a late first-round pick.  A lot of intrigue about him, but still a few questions based on his stat line (especially low shooting percentage).  He had meetings with 15 NBA teams.  Today he is working out with the Hawks and they also brought in Malaki Branham.  The Hawks pick #16 and could use a SG, lots of draft boards have him taking Malaki, so very intriguing that Bryce gets to run with him.  Let the best B1G freshman of the year win...

 

[MitchMcGaryMunchies]

Atlanta would be somewhat close to home, but I think he's more likely to go a bit later.  Nuggets (#21) aren't scared of a longer-term project and could use him to insure against an aging Will Barton and Jamal Murray's injuries.  Grizzlies (#22), Bucks (#24), Mavericks (#26), and Heat (#27) all have needs Bryce can help fill.  The Warriors (#28) or Grizzlies (#29) will no doubt snatch him up if he falls to the end of the first round.  The Warriors would love a young SG they can try to develop into their next Jordan Poole.  He's blown up and they only have him for one more year with a $5.8M QO in 2023 that he will certainly not sign.  Grizz will be in a very similar situation with Desmond Bane.

 

FWIW, the combine measurements for Bryce and Malaki were pretty similar.  Bryce is a little taller, Malaki has a little longer wingspan and is definitely a bit more built.

 

And their performance numbers are also very close as well

 

[hhcmatt]

[Swan88]

Here's an item that's worth the read:

 

And here's a summary paragraph from that item:

This season, McGowens had some of the most erratic shot selection in the country. He settled for bad jumpers, didn’t take shots he was best at, and would struggle to create space. However, McGowens did something we rarely see from freshmen: he improved his shot selection in the middle of the year. Instead of settling for contested jumpers, McGowens started attacking the rim, which improved his shot quality and regularly sent him to the free-throw line. The importance of this pivot in mindset cannot be understated. Yes, there were bad habits that persisted throughout the season, but for a freshman to actively change his approach to scoring in the middle of the season is a rare occurrence.

[MitchMcGaryMunchies]

 

One of the better analyses that I've seen

[MitchMcGaryMunchies]

4 hours ago, Swan88 said:

Here's an item that's worth the read:

 

And here's a summary paragraph from that item:

This season, McGowens had some of the most erratic shot selection in the country. He settled for bad jumpers, didn’t take shots he was best at, and would struggle to create space. However, McGowens did something we rarely see from freshmen: he improved his shot selection in the middle of the year. Instead of settling for contested jumpers, McGowens started attacking the rim, which improved his shot quality and regularly sent him to the free-throw line. The importance of this pivot in mindset cannot be understated. Yes, there were bad habits that persisted throughout the season, but for a freshman to actively change his approach to scoring in the middle of the season is a rare occurrence.

 

I think some of this improvement is also owed to Verge initiating the offense more frequently.  Early in the season Bryce seemed to have a lot more freedom, and that coupled with not knowing the capabilities of his teammates resulted in some questionable decision-making in half-court sets.

[MitchMcGaryMunchies]

 

[MitchMcGaryMunchies]

Worked-out with the Timberwolves yesterday.

 

Also, per David Aldridge's "NBA Draft Confidential" for The Athletic:

https://theathletic.com/3350046/2022/06/07/nba-draft-top-guards-analysis/

[Huskerpapa]

Good lord.  I read those reports and my heart and psyche sinks more than a little.   

[Swan88]

3 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

Good lord.  I read those reports and my heart and psyche sinks more than a little.   

Let it go.

The first guy in the print above blames Hoiberg for being “very restrictive most of the year,” and the second guy (who coached against Nebraska) says, “Fred really gave him a lot of freedom.”

The reality is this: Hoiberg took this player from a top 30 player in his high school class to a top 30 player on the NBA draft.  That’s darn good.  
These “analyst” types need to have something clever and unusual to say to get clicks and quoted—not reliable.

[Handy Johnson]

If Hoiberg can get players into the NBA on “Bad” teams, imagine what he can do with players that are on a WINNER! I’m tired on being the team that makes opponents cry after losing to us (does that happen ANYWHERE else, I never saw it in over 25 years of Gopher Hoops & they had plenty of “Bad” teams too). Let’s be that B1G team that’s on the CBS National Broadcast, with multiple NBA prospects, the team that doesn’t worry about a Bubble. But first Fred, get us over .500…!!!

[MitchMcGaryMunchies]

1 hour ago, Swan88 said:

Let it go.

The first guy in the print above blames Hoiberg for being “very restrictive most of the year,” and the second guy (who coached against Nebraska) says, “Fred really gave him a lot of freedom.”

The reality is this: Hoiberg took this player from a top 30 player in his high school class to a top 30 player on the NBA draft.  That’s darn good.  
These “analyst” types need to have something clever and unusual to say to get clicks and quoted—not reliable.

 

From the comments, I think it is obvious that the NBA executive really only watched the latter half of the conference season whereas the B1G assistant had the benefit of seeing a little larger sample size and knowing more the team dynamics.  As much talent as they are trying to evaluate, it makes sense that the NBA guys give the most attention to the conference games.

 

The comment about him playing for a blood blood program and getting more attention...  If Bryce was one of a handful of Top 30 guys in a program, his utilization drops and he doesn't break-out.  Just kind of a dumb comment.

 

Jaden Hardy was potentially the best guy in the class and he is expected to land late in the first round (largely due to his G League route).  Patrick Baldwin Jr. was a consensus Top Five player in the class and he will be lucky to go in the first round.  Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate were consensus Top 15 guys and both will likely land in the second round.  Same goes for TyTy Washington who apparently cannot control his eating habits (12% body fat!).

 

tldr; Fred did just fine with Bryce.